15 USC 2078 - Cooperation with States and other Federal agencies

View all text of Chapter 47 [§ 2051 - § 2090]

§ 2078. Cooperation with States and other Federal agencies

(a) Programs to promote Federal-State cooperation

(1) accept from any State or local authorities engaged in activities relating to health, safety, or consumer protection assistance in such functions as injury data collection, investigation, and educational programs, as well as other assistance in the administration and enforcement of this chapter which such States or localities may be able and willing to provide and, if so agreed, may pay in advance or otherwise for the reasonable cost of such assistance, and

(2) commission any qualified officer or employee of any State or local agency as an officer of the Commission for the purpose of conducting examinations, investigations, and inspections.

(b) Appropriateness of State and local programs

(d) Utilization of National Institute of Standards and Technology

(e) Copies of accident or investigation reports to other agencies; conditionsNotwithstanding section 2055(a)(3) of this title, the Commission may provide to another Federal agency or a State or local agency or authority engaged in activities relating to health, safety, or consumer protection, copies of any accident or investigation report made under this chapter by any officer, employee, or agent of the Commission only if (1) information which under section 2055(a)(2) of this title is to be considered confidential is not included in any copy of such report which is provided under this subsection; and (2) each Federal agency and State and local agency and authority which is to receive under this subsection a copy of such report provides assurances satisfactory to the Commission that the identity of any injured person and any person who treated an injured person will not, without the consent of the person identified, be included in—

(A) any copy of any such report, or

(B) any information contained in any such report,

which the agency or authority makes available to any member of the public. No Federal agency or State or local agency or authority may disclose to the public any information contained in a report received by the agency or authority under this subsection unless with respect to such information the Commission has complied with the applicable requirements of section 2055(b) of this title.

(f) Sharing of information with Federal, State, local, and foreign government agencies

(1) Agreements and conditionsNotwithstanding the requirements of subsections (a)(3) and (b) of section 2055 of this title, relating to public disclosure of information, the Commission may make information obtained by the Commission available to any Federal, State, local, or foreign government agency upon the prior certification of an appropriate official of any such agency, either by a prior agreement or memorandum of understanding with the Commission or by other written certification, that such material will be maintained in confidence and will be used only for official law enforcement or consumer protection purposes, if—

(A) the agency has set forth a bona fide legal basis for its authority to maintain the material in confidence;

(B) the materials are to be used for purposes of investigating, or engaging in enforcement proceedings related to, possible violations of—

(i) laws regulating the manufacture, importation, distribution, or sale of defective or unsafe consumer products, or other practices substantially similar to practices prohibited by any law administered by the Commission;

(ii) a law administered by the Commission, if disclosure of the material would further a Commission investigation or enforcement proceeding; or

(iii) with respect to a foreign law enforcement agency, with the approval of the Attorney General, other foreign criminal laws, if such foreign criminal laws are offenses defined in or covered by a criminal mutual legal assistance treaty in force between the government of the United States and the foreign law enforcement agency’s government; and

(C) in the case of a foreign government agency, such agency is not from a foreign state that the Secretary of State has determined, in accordance with section 4605(j) 1

1 See References in Text note below.

of title 50, has repeatedly provided support for acts of international terrorism, unless and until such determination is rescinded pursuant to section 4605(j)(4) 1 of title 50.

(2) Abrogation of agreements

(3) Additional rules against disclosureExcept as provided in paragraph (4), the Commission shall not be required to disclose under section 552 of title 5 or any other provision of law—

(A) any material obtained from a foreign government agency, if the foreign government agency has requested confidential treatment, or has precluded such disclosure under other use limitations, as a condition of providing the material;

(B) any material reflecting a consumer complaint obtained from any other foreign source, if that foreign source supplying the material has requested confidential treatment as a condition of providing the material; or

(C) any material reflecting a consumer complaint submitted to a Commission reporting mechanism sponsored in part by foreign government agencies.

(4) Limitation

(5) DefinitionIn this subsection, the term “foreign government agency” means—

(A) any agency or judicial authority of a foreign government, including a foreign state, a political subdivision of a foreign state, or a multinational organization constituted by and comprised of foreign states, that is vested with law enforcement or investigative authority in civil, criminal, or administrative matters; and

(B) any multinational organization, to the extent that it is acting on behalf of an entity described in subparagraph (A).

(g) Notification to State health departments

(Pub. L. 92–573, § 29, Oct. 27, 1972, 86 Stat. 1230; Pub. L. 94–284, § 15, May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 510; Pub. L. 100–418, title V, § 5115(c), Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1433; Pub. L. 110–314, title II, §§ 207, 235(c)(7), Aug. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 3044, 3075.)